Winning on our Issues with Power

Main Article Content

Amanda Tattersall

Abstract

Social movement organisations need to have a pragmatic understanding of our current weaknesses and challenge ourselves to be much more adventurous for how to build social power and transformative change. This article considers three core weaknesses of our activist organisations, including how our issue agenda is often reactive, our disconnection from place and our poor track record on collaboration. It then suggests that the hope for stronger social change lies with a proactive issue agenda, strong reciprocal coalitions and the ability to move campaigns at multiple scales (locally, regionally, nationally, globally). The article includes a variety of examples that suggest how this stronger kind of organising is possible.

Article Details

Section
Articles (refereed)
Author Biography

Amanda Tattersall

Amanda Tattersall is the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Unions NSW and the Founder and Director of the Sydney Alliance, a broad based coalition of unions, religious organisations and community organisations. She has experience as a union and community organiser, having been President of the National Unions of Students (NSW Branch) in 1999, established Labor for Refugees, and worked in numerous issue based coalitions with the union movement. She is the author of a forthcoming book "Power in Coalition" (Cornell University Press), based on her PhD that compared coalitions across Australia, the United States and Canada.